


The Lost Boys

by craigtrash



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of past drug use, Polyamory, Threesome, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-18 10:18:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5924812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craigtrash/pseuds/craigtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story about friendship, love, and kicking ass. As a super hero, Kenny has a duty to himself to keep the world safe for those he loves. It's hard enough being a super hero, but what happens when he falls in love with not only his best friend, but his best friend's boyfriend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I. The Birth of Mysterion

If there was one thing that everyone should understand is that not being able to die is definitely not as great as it may seem. Not only is it an inconvenience to find yourself stuck in Hell for a day or two before being brought back to Earth, but no one ever seems to remember when you die. At first, it makes you feel crazy. Everyone gives you concerned looks as you desperately try to remind them of being hit by a car or struck by lightning or getting eaten by a bear. It makes you doubt your own sanity. You can so vividly remember all of these events that there is no way they could be dreams. You remember the fear you feel at that moment, the rush of adrenaline seeping into your veins. You remember your friends calling out in shock as they watch you die right before their eyes before slipping away into darkness. Most importantly, and this is the worst part, you remember the searing pain of it all. As many times as Kenny McCormick has died, he never became numb to the pain. He remembers how each horrific death felt, how it felt to be ripped apart and to bleed out so the snow beneath him runs red. It was the sad truth, but unfortunately for Kenny, he also never grew numb to other pain as well, like the pain of his own father’s hand.

Life at the McCormick house was never an easy one. His father always seemed to be between jobs, his mother was often trying to find a way to make ends meet, and the both of them, regardless of their intent, were often too intoxicated to take care of their three children. Deep down, Kenny would like to believe his parents cared about them. For many years, he blamed their behavior on the unfortunate circumstances they found themselves in. As time went on, Kenny had a harder time accepting that. His older brother, Kevin, was rarely home once he entered high school and most of the time Kenny had no idea where he would go to. It would sometimes be weeks before Kenny would see Kevin again and he never once gave an explanation.

Kenny completely understood why Kevin would run. As the years went on, his father become more violent to them. He would strike them to the ground and blame them for the world’s problems. It usually ended with his father sobbing and apologizing, but after each time it grew harder to accept any form of apology. The only reason Kenny stayed at home instead of trying to disappear like his brother is for his younger sister, Karen. He remembers thinking how stupid his parents were for getting pregnant again when they first told him he was going to be a big brother even at his young age. They couldn’t even afford to feed the kids they had so why would they bring another into the equation? He secretly hoped that his mother would miscarry so the poor soul inside of her would be saved from their dysfunctional household. His mother gave no indication that she was going to stop drinking during her pregnancy, so he could only imagine what she was doing to the fetus growing inside of her. The day Karen was born, however, Kenny knew what it felt to love for the first time. She was so small and helpless, but when Kenny looked into her eyes, even at his young age he knew that Karen was going to mean the world to him. Since the day she was born, Kenny has done everything in his power to protect her from harm either from their parents or otherwise. It has resulted in quite a few of his own deaths but Karen was worth it. For a long time, she was the only one that was worth it.

When he was thirteen years old, his father had ended up beating him after an altercation about nothing. His lip was split open and his eye was swollen shut, but as soon as he knew his father was passed out from drinking and Karen would be safe, he slipped out of his window and started to walk down the street. He slipped a cigarette that he had stolen from his mom’s purse between his lips and lit up. The smoke filled his lungs and his body started to relax. His whole body still hurt like hell, but the tension in his muscles slowly started to slip away. He walked around town with no particular place in mind. The sun was starting to set and the town was settling down for the night. Besides a few passing cars, the only sounds to be heard was the wind whistling through the trees and the sound of the snow crunching under his feet. He ended up at Stark’s Pond, as he usually did. He sat down on the cold, snow-covered bench and continued to inhale the nicotine from his cigarette. Usually this time of night the park is empty, but this particular night, Kenny heard the sound of footsteps approaching him but he didn’t want to look up to see who it was. It was a small town so no matter what, it was going to be someone he knew and he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him wounded so they could run home and talk about ‘that McCormick kid’ and how bad they felt for them. Kenny was not one who wanted sympathy.

It wasn’t until he heard the voice call out his name that he looked up at the person standing in front of him. It was Craig Tucker, one of the boys in his class. He and Craig were not particularly close to one another growing up. They both had their own friend groups that they mostly stuck to, but he definitely one of the kids he respected the most in his class. Craig was obviously inspecting him, taking in all of the damage done to his face, but instead of commenting on it, Craig asked, “Can I have a drag of your cigarette?”

Kenny was kind of surprised that was what came out of Craig’s mouth, but without question, he offered his cigarette to Craig. He stood there, examining it before taking it into his mouth and inhaling. Kenny watched him as he let the smoke stay in his mouth for a moment before slowing blowing it out into the night air. “I didn’t realize you smoked,” Kenny said as he accepted the cigarette back from Craig.

“I don’t,” he replied. “But you know what they say, ‘smoking make you cool’.”

Kenny let out a laugh which made his lip crack again and start to bleed. “Fuck,” he muttered as he brought his hand to his lip. It wasn’t bleeding as badly as it was before but it still stung deeply. 

“Dude, you’re getting blood all over your jacket,” Craig said in a voice that almost seemed annoyed. It was always hard to tell with Craig what he was actually feeling. Kenny shrugged his shoulders and continued to dab his lip with his sleeve. “Come on, dude,” he said. “That thing is covered in blood. You should definitely wash it.”

Kenny stood up and threw his cigarette to the floor and stomped it out. “I don’t need your sympathy, Tucker.”

Craig rolled his eyes at him. “Who’s giving you sympathy? I’m offering you having your coat cleaned, not turning you in to social services or offering you a hot meal. Stop being a pussy and come with me.”

For whatever reason, Kenny followed Craig that night to his house and let him clean his clothes. If he was honest, he wasn’t sure the last time he actually washed his clothes since it sometime took a couple of weeks before he had enough quarters to wash his and Karen’s clothes at the laundromat. They sat around in Craig’s room while they waited for the clothes in mostly silence. It wasn’t an awkward kind of silence, and if he was being honest, it was almost pleasant. Craig wasn’t asking uncomfortable questions. He wasn’t trying to get Kenny to talk about his home life or why he was covered in blood in the first place. It was nice, and when it came time for Kenny to leave, Craig didn’t act like he expected a thank you. He also didn’t make an effort to try and ask Kenny if he was okay the following days at school. Occasionally he made eye contact with Craig from across the cafeteria or in the hallway, but Kenny was never sure if it was a coincidence or if Craig was looking out for him. 

Even though they didn’t speak much, the next time Kenny found himself walking around town at night after a fight, he found himself outside of the Tucker residence without realizing he was walking there. Since he still really hadn’t talked to Craig since the first incident, and he wasn’t sure if Craig would be as generous as he was the first time. Would making it a two time thing be weird? He wasn’t quite sure. After almost ten minutes of serious contemplation, he picked up a small pebble and tossed it at Craig’s window. After a few failed attempts, eventually the curtains opened and Craig peaked his head out. As soon as he saw it was Kenny, he disappeared from the window and didn’t reappear until the back porch light flicked on and the sliding glass slid open. Craig didn’t ask what he wanted but when Kenny vaguely gestured at his dirty, blood-stained parka, Craig stepped aside and let Kenny come in.

This wasn’t the last time Kenny found himself at Craig’s house. Slowly over time, it become like a routine. Got into a fight with his dad, go to Craig’s house. Found his mom passed out from a drug binge, go to Craig’s house. Craig never asked or judged and Kenny found himself trusting Craig and considering him a friend even though their conversations were few and far between. It was nice to be around someone who you couldn’t tell if they were judging you or your situation. Craig was neutral. Craig was Switzerland. Craig was safe.

It wasn’t until Kenny showed up with Karen one night that Craig started to ask questions. The fight was happening when Kenny walked through the door after hanging out with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. He heard the yelling before he even opened the door. He saw his father towering over Karen who was sobbing on the floor. Kenny rushed in and before he knew it, he was throwing punches at his father with a velocity that he never knew he had. Only when he saw blood on his hands that he knew wasn’t his own did he stop. His father was on the floor with his nose gushing blood and he didn’t seem like he was going to be moving any time soon. Kenny would have been horrified that he had done that if he wasn’t so concerned for his sister. He took Karen, whose cheeks were still damp from her tears, and rushed out the door before their father could get up and possibly retaliate. 

Just as he always seems to do, he ended up in Craig’s backyard again and throwing pebbles at his window. When Craig came downstairs to let him in, he noticed Karen hiding behind her brother with her fingers clenching tightly at his parka. Craig’s eyes briefly looked worried as he noticed how shaken she was and the noticeable blood on Kenny’s hands. He let them in and Craig led Karen into the living room where his sister, Ruby, was currently watching TV. Thankfully, Craig’s parents seemed to be out for the evening and while it wouldn’t have been the first time that they had found Kenny McCormick dressed in a pair of Craig’s clothes while they sat quietly in Craig’s room waiting for his clothes to dry, they had never seen Karen accompany him as well. Like Craig, his parents never seemed to ask questions about why Kenny was there, even the first time they saw him there. It was common knowledge in town how the McCormicks were, so they probably could fill in the blanks themselves. They didn’t give him sympathetic looks whenever he was there, didn’t go off into the other room to whisper about him like many of his friend’s parents did. Craig’s mother always greeted him kindly, asked if he wanted something to eat or drink, and then let them be. Even Craig’s father who appeared to be a typical redneck drunk like the rest of the town never talked down to Kenny or acted uncomfortable about why he was there.

Kenny went into the kitchen to wash his hands off in the sink after making sure Karen was okay and comfortable. Craig came into the kitchen and watched Kenny carefully. “That’s not your blood, is it?”

At first, Kenny didn’t know if he wanted to answer. He could lie, he guessed, but Craig had already done so much for him without ever asking for an explanation so he figured he owed him at least a little. “Yeah,” he said as the caked-on blood ran down the sink. “I came in and I saw my dad standing over Karen and she was crying. I don’t even know if he actually hurt her but I lost it. He can do whatever he wants to me, I can take it but I refuse to let Karen ever get hurt.”

There was a short lapse of silence before Craig spoke again. “I know it might not seem like it, but I get it,” he said. “I’m not exactly the most expressive guy, but I would do anything for Ruby.” Craig looked over at the two girls sitting on the couch and giggling at the TV. Kenny couldn’t help but crack a smile at how happy Karen looked. It had been a long time since she had seemed so at ease. Craig looked back over at Kenny and smiled at him. “You’re obviously like me in that way. You’re a good dude, Kenny. Give me your jacket, I’ll go wash it.”

This was probably the most Kenny and Craig had ever spoken in the near decade they had known each other. Craig was definitely more passive than Kenny was. While Kenny and his friends would often find themselves getting into trouble, Craig was usually one to step back and not get involved. It was because of this that Kenny never thought he could be close with Craig, but now more than ever he was glad that he was wrong.

Craig’s parents didn’t really ask questions when they got home to see two of the McCormick children sitting in their living room. Craig shared a look with them before Thomas went upstairs and Laura asked Karen and Kenny if they wanted any cocoa. It was nice to be welcomed with such warmth from a family that didn’t even know him well. While Stan and Kyle’s parents, and hell, even Cartman’s mom at times, welcomed him into his home, that was mostly because the four of them had been friends since they were in diapers. There was history. That wasn’t the case with Craig’s family so Kenny didn’t really know how to take it.

He didn’t understand just how caring the Tuckers were until nearly a year later. Kevin had been gone for a few months now that he was eighteen but he would occasionally show up, toss Kenny a carton of cigarettes, and then leave again. Maybe he felt guilty for the burden he knew Kenny always had to carry and this was his way of showing his gratitude. Just like most things in this family, it wasn’t ever actually spoken about.

One night, Kenny and Karen were sitting in their room and Kenny was helping her with her homework. His parents were fighting about something or another but at this point it was almost like background noise to him. Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the front of the house and then a ton of stomping footsteps and yelling. Kenny turned to Karen and told her to stay where she was while he looked out from their room. There was an entire SWAT team in their living room and they were slapping handcuffs around his parent’s wrists. There was so much commotion going on that he didn’t even know what they were being arrested for, although Kenny knew it could be a lot of things. 

Eventually, an officer approached him and asked, “Are you Kenneth McCormick?” Kenny nodded his head and made sure he was blocking the door so Karen wouldn’t see out. “I’m Officer Swanson. Your parents are being arrested for the production and distribution of methamphetamines and endangering the lives of minors. Is Kevin or Karen McCormick in there with you, son?” 

Kenny knew his parents were active drug users themselves, but he had no idea that they were actually making or selling anything. If he was being honest, he didn’t think his parents were smart enough to make meth. “Karen is here, but Kevin has lived here for months,” Kenny replied.

“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be alright.”

After their parents were removed from the property, both Kenny and Karen were escorted out of the house and into the back of the police car. Karen was grasping on Kenny’s arm tightly as the drove away from their house for hopefully the last time.

That next day was a confusing blur. Both him and Karen were both taken in and out of so many different rooms and talked to by so many different people that Kenny couldn’t even remember most of the interactions. It wasn’t until the topic of foster care did Kenny become hyper-aware of the situation they were in. “You can’t separate us,” he said firmly. “I’m not letting Karen go to a different foster home than me. You’d have to kill me first.”

The two officers in the room chuckled which only infuriated Kenny but one of them put their hand on Kenny’s shoulder before he could respond. “Don’t worry, son,” he said. “You two aren’t being separated. In fact, we have a family that has agreed to take you in right here and town.”

Kenny’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. He was honestly quite shocked that someone in town was going to take them in. As much as he loved his friends, their parents were more of the “look the other way” sort of people. They’d talk about how unfortunate it was that Kenny and his sister were being sent to foster care, but they wouldn’t do anything to help them either. On the way to the Police Station, Kenny had already thought of how he would say goodbye to his friends when they inevitable had to be moved to a foster home. Now, he was completely in shock that he was supposedly staying in town. Who had agreed to take them in?

The two officers led him and Karen out of the room to the main lobby of the Station and standing there was a bored looking Craig Tucker and the rest of his family. As much as the Tucker’s had been a big help to him over the past year, he couldn’t believe that they would ever take on this tremendous responsibility of being foster parents to two kids from a broken home. Laura was smiling kindly at them and even Thomas seemed to try to be sensitive to the situation. It was unexpected, but for the first time, Kenny felt safe.

If Kenny was surprised by Craig’s family taking him and his sister in, it didn’t compare to the shock that went through the school. No one thought that Kenny and Craig ever interacted, let alone knew each other enough for his family to take on the responsibility of taking them in. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman were hounding him with questions about it but Kenny just shrugged them off. Things didn’t change that much at school between him and Craig which probably seemed to confuse people further. Kenny definitely didn’t want to discuss his situation, and Craig obviously respected that.

Living with the Tuckers was an adjustment. They only had one spare bedroom and Kenny insisted that Karen have it. He was used to sharing a room with all three of his siblings and Karen deserved to finally have her own space. Moving into Craig’s room was pretty easy considering Kenny didn’t have much to move in. Craig didn’t seem to mind Kenny being there, but he warned him to always be careful about handling Stripe. The boy was serious about his guinea pig.

The other thing that was adjusting to was the living environment. He didn’t have to worry about the water shutting off while he tried to take a shower. When he opened the fridge there was actually food staring back at him. When he went to bed at night, the only sounds he could hear was the soft breathing of Craig across the room. No yelling, no bottles breaking, no tears. 

As he spent more time with the Tuckers, however, the more bitter he became about his own family. He tried to understand why his parents did the things they did, he tried finding a way to justify it. He never could and he felt anger in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about them for too long. There were more people out there just like them. Good people turned bad because of the situations they find themselves in. People who were bad because they knew no other way. People were hurting others because they either didn’t care or because they needed something that they thought the other person had. It made Kenny sick. He thought of Karen, of her growing up and possibly getting hurt. As much as he wanted to keep his sister safe, he could only do so much.

It was about three months into living with the Tuckers that Kenny first came up with the idea. He knew it was dumb, it was risky, but what was life without a couple of risks? Laura wanted Kenny to throw out some of his older clothes that no longer fit or were too ragged to wear anymore, but Kenny was able to sneak some of the fabric that was meant for the trash for his creation. It was simple, but he thought it was good enough for his intentions. 

After Craig went to bed one night and his breathing slowed, Kenny snuck out of bed and took out his new outfit from it’s hiding spot in his pillow case. He put the ensemble on and as quietly as he could, climbed out the window and down into the back yard. As he carefully approached the town, he had to admit he felt stupid. What if he went through all of his trouble and nothing ever happens? What if gets caught and people find out? The Tuckers had done so much for him and his sister, and he didn’t want to ever disappoint them. He just had to be smart about this; tactful.

Kenny was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, peering over the edges of the buildings of downtown South Park for anything of interest. After almost an hour of complete silence, he suddenly heard a cry coming from nearby and he quickly ran towards it. He looked over the side to see a man approaching another in an alley with a knife. He was threatening the man for his wallet and it made Kenny bubble with anger. He jumped down from the roof and landed right in front of the mugger. Both men jumped back and gasped at the sudden appearance of another person. “Who the hell do you think you are, kid?” the mugger barked at him.

Kenny didn’t speak. He stood there, staring at the man without a word, but as soon as the man took a step forward with his knife raised, Kenny striked. He kicked the man’s knees to knock him off-balance, and the man dropped the knife from the strong blow. Kenny kicked the knife as far away as he could and started throwing punch after punch to the mugger. While he was fighting with him, Kenny couldn’t help but think of his father; about all of the times that his father raised his hand to him and made him bleed. He thought of all of the times he had to go to school and explain away bruises and cuts and how no one seemed to care about what was obviously happening. It went on for fourteen years before anything happened, and Kenny had so much built up anger about his father, about everyone who didn’t help him. With one final blow into the gut, the mugger lied there on the ground gasping for air and holding his aching body. Kenny turned to walk away from the alley but heard the other man speak up from behind him.

“Who are you?”

Kenny stopped in his tracks for a moment, before answering. “My name is Mysterion.”

About three times a week, Kenny would go out as Mysterion and look over the town. Some nights he would find something, many times not but his persona eventually gathered a quite a lot of media attention. Everyone was wondering who was behind the mask or whether or not he was even real. Both Karen and Ruby got caught up in talking about it one night while they were having dinner.

“I don’t think he’s real,” Ruby said as she chewed on a piece of chicken.

Kenny wanted to chuckle but somehow managed to keep a straight face as he ate his dinner.  
“Well, I do,” Karen said softly. “I think he’s real.”

Kenny looked up from his plate and smiled at Karen. This was all for her, after all, and even if she didn’t know it, he was glad she believed in him.

This went on for a few months without anyone catching on. He came back after a night of fighting off some car burglars and quietly snuck back through the window to his and Craig’s room. When he turned around he saw Craig sitting in his bed and staring at him. Kenny gasped and quickly removed his mask. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Kenny bit down on his lower lip and started to change out of his costume. “I’m not doing anything,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You’re an idiot,” Craig said. “What are you even trying to prove? You’re just a kid, Kenny. Jesus.”

Kenny turned around and huffed at Craig angrily. “I’ve never been a kid!” he snapped. He knew he had to keep his voice down as it was late and the rest of the house was asleep. Craig was usually good at leaving Kenny to deal with his emotions, being there only when he needed him to. He wasn’t a pusher. “Since I was barely old enough to wipe my own ass, I stopped being a kid. I had to take care of myself, I had to take care of Karen. Hell, I even had to take care of my own parents more than they took care of me. I know I’m young, Craig, but I’m not a stupid kid.”

Craig didn’t say anything for a long while. Kenny was still standing there in nothing but his underwear and his Mysterion costume tightly grasped in his hands. The tension in the air was thick and Kenny couldn’t move. After a while, Craig finally stood up and walked slowly over to Kenny on the other side of the room. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and pulled Kenny into his arms. This was the first time they had hugged, but Kenny instantly sank into Craig’s arms and started sobbing. As angry as he was at his parents, as many negative emotions he has stored inside of him, he never let himself cry about it. He didn’t even realize he needed to cry, to actually let it all out until he was safely locked in Craig’s embrace. He cried for what felt like hours and Craig didn’t once complain.

Eventually, Kenny’s legs felt weak and he pulled away from Craig. His eyes felt heavy from all of crying and he wiped the dripping snot from his nose on the back of his arm. He sniffed a couple of times before finally looking up at the other boy. “Thanks, Craig.”

Craig nodded his head and walked over to Kenny’s dresser and pulled out some pajamas for him. “Here,” he said. “I’m sick of seeing you in your underwear.”

Kenny laughed much harder than he should considering the circumstances, but he was very grateful in that moment for Craig being there for him. He got changed into the clothes and climbed into his bed while Craig was getting comfortable in his own.

It was quiet, so quiet that Kenny was sure that Craig had fallen asleep but then Craig’s voice came from the other side of the room. “Why do you do it?”

Kenny sighed softly and stared up at the ceiling. “I guess I want to keep the world safe,” he said. He sighed again. “No, that’s a lie. I want to keep Karen safe.”

“She’s doing fine, Kenny,” Craig replied. “She’s laughing a lot more. Opening up. You don’t have to keep being her guardian. You can’t always be there to keep her safe, dude.”

“I can try.”

It was silent again. Kenny was tired, he didn’t want to have to explain himself anymore. Usually Craig wasn’t like this. This is the first time that he ever pushed him to talk and it was too much. “You can get hurt,” Craig said. “Someone could hurt you and then what good would you be doing for Karen?”

“I can’t die, Craig.”

“I know.”

Kenny sat up in his bed and looked over at Craig who was still lying on his back. “What do you mean ‘you know’?”

Craig chuckles and turns on his side so he was facing Kenny. “You’ve been dying for years, man. Did you think no one would notice?”

Of all the years he has been on this Earth, no one ever remembers his numerous deaths. He’d show up to school a day later and everyone greets him like normal. It took a long time for him to accept that he was in this alone and he’d have no one to ever talk to about it, but now Craig is saying he knew that Kenny couldn’t die like he just announced that it was raining outside. “No one ever remembers.”

Craig rolled back over on the bed so he was facing the wall and yawned. “Well, I do.” He yawned again and pulled his blanket up to his chin. “Just be careful, dude.”

The conversation seemed to be over even though Kenny was now reeling over this new information. Why was it that Craig was able to remember him dying when no one else can? He’s only been close to Craig for not even two years so what makes him so remarkable? Kenny looked over to Craig’s bed again and saw that he was breathing deep and even. Kenny sighed before he got back under his own covers and closed his eyes with a million questions still on his mind.


	2. Part II. Craig's Awakening

Growing up means dealing with a lot of changes. Changes to your body, changes to what people expect of you as a person, and for Craig Tucker, changes to his thoughts on his own sexuality. It started around the time he was sixteen, about two years after Kenny and Karen had moved in with his family. Besides having to get used to sharing a room with someone else, the two McCormick kids seemed to blend into their family almost seamlessly. He and Kenny still had their own friends; Kenny liked to spend time with Stan and Kyle, and Craig spent a lot of his time with Clyde, Token, and Jimmy. They had their own lives, but through the years, they became an essential part of each other’s existence. Kenny started opening up more to Craig about his dad, and Craig was always more carefree around Kenny than he was with anyone else. They brought out the best in each other.

 

The first time Craig ever questioned his sexuality was after a very vivid dream. He was with Kenny doing homework in their room as they usually did on a typical school night, when Kenny suddenly pushed all of their books of the bed and started kissing him roughly. Kenny’s hands roamed all over his body, pushing his shirt up and letting his fingers glide across his nipples then back down his torso. Right as Kenny was about to reach down to unbutton Craig’s jeans, Craig woke with a start and shot up from his bed. He was breathing heavily and he felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck. It was still dark out, but the light from the window illuminated Kenny who was currently snoring softly on the other side of the room. Craig whole body shivered as he tried to calm down from his dream. It all seemed so real. He felt like he could still feel the ghost touch of one of Kenny’s hands running through his hair while the other pushed up his shirt, his fingers brushing against his stomach. Craig sighed and tried to clear his mind of those dangerous images. 

 

He tried to explain away the dream to himself. He spent a lot of time with Kenny in very close quarters,  _ of course  _ he would have dreams about him. Sharing a room with him also meant that he didn’t get any personal alone time and was forced to jack-off in the shower so  _ of course _ he would be sexually frustrated. The more he tried to explain it, it still didn’t erase the fact that he never seemed to ever have any interest for any of the girls in town either.

 

After that dream he started to notice things that he hadn’t noticed before, not just about Kenny, but other boys in general. He was in the locker room after football practice one afternoon and couldn’t help but watch some of the other boys. He noticed the way the muscles in their back moved when they were taking off their shirts  and how how sharp some of their jawlines were when they bantered with each other while they threw their gear in their lockers and got ready to shower.

 

Even with all of these situations, it still took time before Craig truly accepted that he might not be straight. He tried looking at girls in the way he looked at the boys in the locker room. He tried to appreciate the smooth curves of their bodies or how their silky hair flowed down their back. Still nothing. He tried kissing a few girls at parties, but every time all he could think about was how their lip gloss made his lips feel sticky after and how their perfume was always overwhelmingly sweet. As hard as he tried to be into them, he was left feeling unsatisfied and defeated.

 

It wasn’t that Craig felt gross about being attracted other boys. He didn’t ever understand why other people cared what people did in their own bedrooms or who they chose to spend their lives with. If it didn’t affect him, why should his opinion even matter? Unfortunately, not everyone thought the way he did. Even though it didn’t affect them, a lot of people have very strong opinions about gay people. Even if they didn’t go around harassing them or threatening violence, there was always small things they would do or say to make their real opinions show. Microaggressions, if you will.

 

He thought of his dad and his friends drinking beers together and watching the game. If someone gave a bad throw or fumbled the ball, they would yell at the screen and someone would call them a ‘faggot’ or a ‘girl’. When any of the guys on his own football team showed any form of kindness to another boy, he would be told to stop being ‘queer’ or a ‘gaywad’. Sometimes it’s just ignorance bred by more ignorance, but it was impossible to see the distinction.

 

If Craig was being totally honest, the opinions of the people at school or the rest of the town didn’t matter all that much to him. He was pretty passive about people in general and could easily ignore a lot of things, and if that didn’t work he always knew how to throw one hell of a left hook. The one thing that scared him though, almost more than his dad finding out, was Kenny’s opinion of him changing. Kenny didn’t seem like he would care about anyone else’s sexuality as he was always openly making explicit sexual comments himself, but Kenny had become such an important person in his life that he was scared of losing him. 

 

It was weeks after making the realization that he wasn’t straight that he decided he needed to tell someone. He and Kenny were in the bathroom brushing their teeth before bed when Craig finally felt like he had enough nerve to finally do it. He looked over at Kenny who had toothpaste foam all around his mouth and was humming softly to himself. Craig spat his toothpaste into the sink and looked over at the blonde. “Hey, Ken?”

 

Kenny wiped the toothpaste foam on the back of his hand and spat the remaining toothpaste out of his mouth. “What’s up?” he asked.

 

Craig was usually in control of his nerves. He didn’t let stressful situations to affect him. For some reason, even though Kenny was the person he was closest to, he felt his palms sweat and his stomach felt like it was tied up in knots. He swallowed the lump in the back of his throat and took a deep breath through his nose before turning directly to the other boy. “I have something that I’ve wanted to tell you for a bit now.”

 

“You’re pregnant?” Kenny gushed. “Oh congratulations, Craig! Have you felt it kick yet? Do you have any names picked out?” Kenny dropped on his knees and placed a kiss to Craig’s stomach.

 

Craig pushed Kenny away from him which caused him to go into a fit of giggles. Craig glared at him with as much intensity as he could muster and Kenny eventually calmed down and sat on the edge of the tub. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’m sorry. What’s up, buddy?”

 

Craig let out a deep breath and decided it was now or never. “I think I’m gay.”

 

He didn’t want to look Kenny in the eyes. If for whatever reason this was going to change how Kenny thought of him, if it was going to change how they were together as friends, Craig wanted to live in ignorant bliss for as long as possible. “Oh,” Kenny said after only a beat of silence. “That’s it? You scared me for a second. I thought you were going to tell me you’re dying.”

 

Craig looked over at Kenny and his eyebrows furrowed. “You mean you don’t care?”

 

Kenny jumped up from his spot and chuckled softly. “Nah, dude,” he said. “I’ve made out with a dude myself once or twice. I can definitely see what the fuss is all about.”

 

“Who the hell have you kissed?” Craig questioned. He and Kenny were usually pretty open to each other. Kenny loved to talk about all the different people he’s made out with at a party or behind the bleachers in the gym. Not once did he ever mention making out with another boy which Craig  _ knew  _ was something he would remember.

 

“Well, I’m not one to kiss and tell.” Craig rolled his eyes and scoffed. “But I’ve played tonsil hockey with Butters a couple times.” It wasn’t surprising at all that Butters might be into boys, but he was surprised that Kenny was the one who possibly coaxed it out of him. Kenny walked up to Craig, placed his hands on his shoulders, and placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’m really proud of you, Craig. Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me.”

 

If someone asked if the feeling of Kenny’s lips against his skin made Craig’s entire body feel like it was on fire, he would deny it.

 

When Craig and Kenny graduated from high school less than two years later, Craig’s parents set them down to talk to them. For years, they both have expressed interest in moving to Denver together. They both had no interest in staying in the small town and become alcoholics like most other people. Kenny wanted to escape the history he had with the town. Everyone here knew his business and he wanted a fresh start. Craig hated pretty much everyone there and wanted a chance to expand his horizons and maybe actually date for real. Craig ended up getting into the University of Denver with a full-ride academic scholarship and Kenny beat all of the odds against him and received an academic scholarship as well. Craig was really proud of him. It took a lot of effort and self-motivation on Kenny’s part to get his grades caught up after years of not being able to concentrate because of his home life. He sought the help he knew he needed so he was able to succeed. With both of them having their tuition taken care of, Craig’s parents made a very generous deal with them.

 

“Okay boys,” Laura started. “We want to let you know how proud we are of both of you. You both have grown into such good boys and your friendship really seemed to have brought the best out of both of you. We won’t lie, we were nervous about this time in your lives since we have only been saving for two kids to go to college and now we were possibly responsible for four. You both have have exceeded our hopes for you and now that there isn’t such a financial burden, we have a proposition for you both.”

 

Craig and Kenny looked at each other, both not quite sure where this was all going.

 

“Since we don’t have to worry about tuition, we’re going to give you the money we have saved to help you pay for an apartment for both of you and any other living expenses you might have,” Thomas filled in. Both Craig and Kenny’s mouth dropped. They always talked about living in Denver together, but this was more than they expected. They assumed they would share a dorm room even smaller than the one they shared at home but now it seems like they will have their own place. “You need to understand this isn’t a handout,” Thomas continued. “We still expect you to be responsible and not mess around and get in trouble. We want your grades to be maintained at the level we know you’re both capable of. Do you boys think you will be able to handle that kind of responsibility?”

 

Before Craig could even think about responding, Kenny launched himself into Thomas’ arms and hugged the man closely. Craig knew deep down his dad was a loving man. He had a tough exterior but he cared deeply for his family and for the past few years, Kenny had become family. Craig had multiple conversations with Kenny about how this was the first time he really experienced a real feeling of family in his entire life. Even though his dad didn’t express as much as his mother did about how she considered Karen and Kenny as more than foster kids, he knew that his dad had a big soft spot for both McCormick children. Thomas patted Kenny’s back and smiled as the blonde boy squeezed him tightly. Craig also stepped forward and hugged his mom. “Thank you both so much,” Kenny said. “You’ve already given me so much and this is just,  _ wow _ .”

 

It was cool how Kenny clearly felt like this was his family. They were barely more than acquaintances a few years ago. They occasionally would hang out in large groups but were never close as they are now. He was glad he found Kenny at Starks Pond all those years ago. How different his life would be if he hadn’t.  _ I guess some things happen for a reason. _

 

Living in Denver was an adjustment. Craig was so used to small town life that Denver seemed like he was swimming in an endless sea of people. He was really glad that he had Kenny by his side so it definitely made the transition easier. Kenny had always been a social butterfly and flourish at personal interaction. He loved Denver, loved the mass amounts of people and opportunities. People flocked to Kenny almost right away, the first day of classes Kenny came home with a stack of numbers, both from men and women. Craig would be jealous if he didn’t know that he would always come first for Kenny. Not that he had a reason to be jealous anyway, that is. 

 

Craig really liked his classes. He was finally learning about things he wanted to learn about and around people who wanted to be there. Of course, he still had to take a few general classes that didn’t have anything to do with his major. South Park’s AP programs were limited, so while he was able to knock a few out before he arrived at college, there were still a few he was going to have to suffer through. They were tedious at best, but there was one class in particular that was incredibly hard to try and concentrate in.

 

It was a Psych 101 class, one of the more interesting classes he had to take to get his generals done but there was just one problem Craig was having. There was a blonde boy who sat in the front of the class that was annoyingly beautiful. His hair was messy, but it always looked like it would be soft to the touch. He wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that he would occasionally have to slip back up his nose while he was taking notes. He would always chew on the eraser of his pencil when he was concentrating on anything particularly hard. He also always had a large thermos of what he assumed was coffee that he would sip on between writing down notes. His presence was menacing and Craig felt like a creep with how religiously he enjoyed watching the boy.

 

Thankfully, fate seemed to have better plans than just having an infatuation with the mysterious blonde boy. One day he was leaving one of his classes when he walked directly into someone, making the other person’s paper flying all over. Craig looked down to see the blonde boy picking up his fallen papers. Craig crouched down and helped him pick up the rest of the scattered sheets. “I’m so sorry, dude,” he said as he handed the stack of papers over to him. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

 

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose as they both stood up and bit down on his lower lip. “It’s okay,” he said. “I guess I wasn’t really looking where I was going either.”

 

“You’re in my Psych class,” Craig blurted out.  _ Very subtle, Craig.  _

 

“Oh,” the boy said. “That’s right. I feel like I recognize that hat.” The boy reached out and tugged gently at the ear flaps of his hat. 

 

Now that Craig was actually up close to the boy, he realized that he was even more beautiful face-to-face. He had light freckles scattered his cheeks and nose. He could also see the soft shade of green eyes he had that were hidden behind his glasses. Craig was definitely fucked.

 

“I’m Tweek,” the boy said as he reached his free hand out for Craig to shake.

 

“I’m Craig.”

 

The next day they had Psych 101, Tweek came up to Craig and sat down next to him. “Good morning,” he said. “Is it okay if I sit next to you?”

 

Craig could not have been more delighted but he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible. “Yeah, man, of course it’s okay.”

 

They talked for a bit before class started, Tweek sipping away at his coffee, but as soon as their professor started the lecture, Tweek became focused and furiously started writing down notes. As much as he enjoyed that Tweek decided to sit with him, it was a bit harder to stare at him all class and he was forced to actually pay attention for once.

 

At the end of the hour, Tweek stood up and looked over at Craig with that damn bottom lip tucked under his teeth. “Hey,” he started. “So, my roommate invited me to a party this weekend. He’s a pledge for some fraternity or something and I have a hard time saying no to people so I said yes. But um, it’s not really my scene so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? If not it’s totally fine, I understand, I just thought--”

 

Tweek was obviously rambling out of nerves so Craig put his hand on his elbow to hopefully calm him down a bit. “I’d love to.”

 

The blonde visibly relaxed and smiled at Craig. “Awesome,” he said. “Let’s, um, exchange numbers and I can text you the details or whatever.” They exchanged phones so they could type their numbers in and when Tweek handed back his phone, he say that he entered his name was ‘Tweek’ with the glasses face emoji. Craig bit back a smile as he walked to his next class.  _ Yep, definitely fucked. _

 

Once settling in Denver and figuring out his classes, Kenny had decided to continue his work as Mysterion. Craig had sat down and had multiple talks with him how this wasn’t South Park and he had to be especially careful now that they were in a larger city. Kenny knew the risks and took his role very seriously as a vigilante. Even if Karen wasn’t here, he still felt the need to serve and protect. Craig was actually really proud of his commitment.  He also knew that his crime fighting couldn’t interfere with his schooling so he had to cut back on the action to once during the school week (when the next day he didn’t have class until 3pm) and on the weekends. Kenny was going out as Mysterion the night of the party which meant Craig had no one to calm his nerves.  He kept looking at himself in the mirror like his reflection was going to change in the three minutes since the last time he checked. Craig didn’t really date in high school because he was in the closet. Not that this was a date, but this was also the first time Craig felt attracted to since...Kenny. He definitely didn’t want to open that door again.

 

Tweek was going to meet up with him outside of the frat house so they didn’t have to try and find each other in what was probably going to be pure chaos. When he arrived, Craig didn’t see Tweek right away so he started walking back and forth on the street in front of the house to hopefully calm his nerves. Craig needed to relax. He wasn’t used to being this high strung and nervous. It was weird.

 

After about five minutes, he heard his name being shouted and the sound of footsteps walking briskly towards them. “Hey!” Tweek said. “Sorry I’m late. Would it be lame if I said I couldn’t figure out what to wear?”

 

Tweek was wearing a olive green flannel shirt with a pair of the tightest pair of skinny jeans that Craig thinks he’s ever seen. His hair was just was untamed as it usually was but his glasses were nowhere to be seen. Craig wet his lips with his tongue and shook his head. “No, that’s not lame at all. You look good, dude.” The blonde bit down on his lower lip and Craig felt like God was seriously testing him. 

 

The party was pretty much just as lame as he expected it would be. A lot of obnoxious douchebags slurping down beer like it was their job and not caring if it spilled on them or anywhere else for that matter. The floors were sticky and the smell of Axe Body Spray was overwhelming. He met Tweek’s roommate and he kind of felt bad for the other boy. They clearly had nothing in common, even with the limited knowledge he had about Tweek. The roommate was wearing sunglasses even though they were inside and wore a sleeveless shirt that looked like someone just ripped a giant hole in the side. He also was clearly a big fan of the fist bump.

 

The only real good thing about parties like these is that they contained a lot of free booze. Craig grabbed a couple of bottles of beer from the kitchen and they went to find a place that wasn’t crowded with someone throwing up. He tried handing Tweek one of the bottles but the boy shook his head and held up a bottle of water he must have brought with him. “I’m not really much of a drinker.”

 

He and Tweek were wallflowers that night, not really leaving their spot the whole time they were there. They sipped from their bottles and giggled as they opened up about themselves. Craig told him about growing up in South Park and Tweek talked about the small town he was from. They shared some of the same experiences growing up, many different ones but it was really nice to get to know more about the boy that he had been infatuated with.

 

“He’s a nice enough guy,” Tweek explained as his roommate ended up walking by and gave them another round of fist bumps. “He’s gone a lot for his pledge stuff so I get the room to myself a lot. Although he never does his laundry and it just piles up on his side of the room. I would have liked to not have a roommate so I could study more easily but my sponsor thought this would be good for me for such a big life transition.”

 

“Sponsor?”

 

Tweek’s face dropped and his hand went to the back of his neck and started rubbing it nervously. “Y-yeah,” he said. “My NA sponsor.”

 

“NA?” Craig questioned.

 

“N-narcotics Anoynmous.”

 

Craig looked at Tweek and he could see a general shift in the boy’s body language. “Are you an addict?” He wasn’t judging Tweek, in the shitty town he grew up in it was unusual if someone didn’t grow up to be an addict of some kind. The boy standing across from him seemed to have his life together, always so focused in class. Plus, he was so young. He could tell Tweek was uncomfortable, so he reached out and placed a hand on Tweek’s elbow and waited for him to look at him. “I’m sorry if I made this uncomfortable,” he said. “But I’m not judging you for being in recovery, Tweek. I promise.”

 

Tweek nodded his head. “It’s just that I don’t typically tell people, you know? I don’t want their opinion of me to change just because of my past.”

 

Craig ran his hand up and down Tweek’s bicep in what he hoped was a soothing manor. “I still think you’re pretty cool.”

 

Thankfully, Tweek let out a barking laugh and he smiled at Craig. “Thanks, Craig.”

 

After that initial hiccup, they continued to talk about different things while ignoring the rest of the world. With the shouts of the party-goers and the thumping music, they had their faces practically touching as they talked to each other. They were so close that Craig could see every small detail of Tweek’s face, like the bow shape of the blonde’s top lip or that he had a cluster of three freckles under his left eye that made a little triangle. He was so close that he felt Tweek’s breath wash against his face as he spoke and it was more intoxicating that the beer in his hand ever could be. He wanted to kiss him. He wanted to know if his hair was as soft as it looked. He wanted him.

 

“I really want to kiss you,” Craig blurted. He wanted to blame the alcohol, but he only had the one beer so that was a crummy excuse. Tweek apparently just made him incredibly stupid.

 

Tweek giggled into the back of his hand and bit down on his lip again. “Very subtle,” he teased. “But I accept your offer. You want to get out of here?” Craig could do nothing but nod his head and follow Tweek out of the house. Like he said, Tweek made him stupid. They decided to go back to Craig’s place since it was closer and Kenny was probably not going to be home anytime soon. They walked in silence pretty much the whole ten minute walk back to Craig’s apartment but they held hands as they walked. Craig was nervous, he was excited, he was overjoyed, he was a million emotions all rolled up into one big ball of anxiety.

 

With shaky hands, Craig opened the door. As soon as he shut it behind him, he was pushed back against the wood and felt Tweek’s lips against his. He let out a gasp of surprise but reacted almost instantly to Tweek’s advances. It was everything he knew it would be and more. His hands slid up and finally got to feel Tweek’s hair between his fingers as he ran his hands across his scalp. After a few moments, the blonde stepped back and covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh my god,” he said, his breath coming out in small pants. “I-I am so sorry. I usually wouldn’t   _ jump  _ someone like that. I don’t know what got into me. Oh  _ Jesus. _ ”

 

Craig laces his fingers through the hair on the back of Tweek’s neck and chuckled. “I am so attracted to you,” he stated. “I’ve wanted to kiss since I first saw you chewing on your pencil eraser in class. You don’t know what you do to me.”

 

Tweek gripped at the top of Craig’s sweatshirt and pulled him back in for another kiss. The eventually kicked their shoes off and made their way into the living room. Craig pulled Tweek down with him on the couch so the other boy was straddling his lap. Apparently Tweek didn’t just bite his own lip; he liked to bite other’s lips as well. Whenever Craig tried to pull away for a gasp of air, Tweek would bite down on his lower lip and tug him back in. For as shy and innocent as he may seem while in class, Tweek was definitely not acting shy in this moment. Craig had never felt the amount of want or need as he did in that moment. His hands went from Tweek’s neck, down his spine to where his back curved to his ass. As tempted as he was, he didn’t want to break any boundaries and instead let a hand slip under Tweek’s flannel. His fingers ran across the blonde’s heated skin, feeling each dip and curve of his spine as his hand moved up and down his back. Tweek shuddered slightly at the contact and before he knew it the blonde ripped his hat from his head and ran his hands up his neck.

 

A moan slipped from his mouth before he could stop it and Tweek’s fingers tightened their grip in his hair. “Jesus,” Tweek said as he pulled away just enough so he could speak. “What are we doing?”

 

“I don’t know,” Craig said between gasps for breaths. “I was hoping you knew.”

 

They both broke out laughing, their lips still grazing each other as they did. Craig didn’t think he’d ever feel this comfortable around someone in such an intimate way. If this was going to go further, this was technically going to be Craig’s first time doing something sexual with another person. Not that he was willing to broadcast that to Tweek right now. They weren’t strangers, but they had only just starting to get to know each other but here they were, out of breath from kissing but still able to laugh and be  _ comfortable  _ with one another.

 

Tweek kissed the corner of Craig’s lips and murmured something Craig couldn’t understand.

 

“What was that?” he asked.

 

Tweek groaned and placed his forehead against Craig’s shoulder. “I- I think I want---I want to s-suck your dick.”

 

Craig’s head was spinning. “You--you think? Are you unsure?”

 

“No,” Tweek said. “I’ve just---I’ve never actually done it before. God, that’s so embarrassing.”

 

Craig kissed him and gently rubbed his back. “Do you want to know a secret? I haven’t either. Ever.”

 

Tweek smiled at Craig before he he started to lift up Craig’s shirt. He tried to help him get it off the best he could, but Craig’s hands were shaky from his own nerves. Tweek’s fingers made their way to the button on Craig’s pants and he eventually was able to get them undone. Craig kicked them off and he was left in just his boxers. He licked his lips as he anxiously waited for Tweek to make his next move. After a moment of hesitation, Tweek started to roll Craig’s boxers down his thighs, letting Craig’s  _ very  _ attentive dick spring break and slap gently against his belly. This was the first time that Craig was ever exposed like this to another person and he hoped that he wasn’t disappointing.

 

Tweek looked down at him but didn’t say anything at first. He seemed to be examining Craig’s dick which made Craig a bit squirmy. After a few moments of silence, Tweek finally said, “Well, that’s definitely a dick.”

 

The tension, that had just been so thick, seemed to vanish at the other boy’s comment and Craig let out a deep laugh. Here he was, completely naked except for his socks in front of the boy he has been obsessing with for weeks, and he was laughing. “Oh god,” Tweek groaned as he crossed his arms over his eyes. “I am the worst dirty talker in the entire world. Jesus, I can’t believe I said that.”

 

“Hey,” Craig said. “Come on. It’s not that bad. We’ll work on the dirty talk.” He didn’t want to think about the possible implications of his own words too much. Tweek hadn’t even touched him yet so he didn’t want to scare him off by implying there might be a second time. 

 

Tweek looked up at him with his big, green, doe-eyes and smiled at him. “Okay,” he said as he started to unbutton his shirt. As his shirt fell from his shoulders, Craig finally got a look at Tweek’s milky white skin. Just like his cheeks, Craig could see that Tweek had freckles scattered across his shoulders and down his arms. Craig wanted to learn where every freckle lay on his body and trace the constellations he found on his skin. Tweek had a little pocket of chub over his belly and Craig didn’t think he’d ever seen anything as perfect. With one more nervous bite to his lip, Tweek finally reached forward and wrapped his long fingers around Craig’s shaft.

 

Craig gasped and let his eyes fall shut for a moment as he relaxed into Tweek’s touch. It felt so much better than his own hand, even though Tweek’s movements were still very tentative and unsure. He peeked down at Tweek from beneath his lashes as the blonde licked his lips and started to lower his head down so it was covering right above his crotch. He saw Tweek’s pink tongue slowly peek out and lick the underside of his cock.

 

“ _ Shit, _ ” Craig hissed. He bit down on his lower lip and pushed his bangs from his eyes. Tweek was clearly taking his time exploring his dick, giving small kitten licks all around as if he was seeing if his frenulum was going to taste different than the skin around the base. Eventually, after a few moments of what Craig could only explain as sweet, sexual torture, Tweek finally took him into his mouth.

 

The inside of Tweek’s mouth was overwhelmingly warm and wet. The way the blonde’s tongue felt rubbing against his sensitive skin while also feeling the ridges of the top of his mouth was a sensation he couldn’t explain. The other boy choked and spluttered a bit, but also insisted that he was fine and went back to try and take more of Craig down his throat.

 

The bobbing of Tweek’s head were awkward and unskilled, but Craig was in heaven. He reached his hand forward and let his hands slide through the boy’s blonde hair. Tweek hummed softly as Craig’s fingers ran across his scalp which caused a jolt of pleasure to shoot across his entire body. He let out a shuttering breath and tapped Tweek’s shoulder to get his attention. “Tweek, Tweek, Tweek,” he said with a breathless voice. “I need you to stop.”

 

Tweek licked his lips as he pulled his mouth away from  Craig’s dick and gave him a puzzled look. “Did---did I do something wrong? I wasn’t using my teeth was I?”

 

Craig laughed breathlessly and shook his head. “No, dude,” he said. “It just feels really good and I don’t want to come yet. I want to be able to touch you, too.”

 

Tweek smiled coyly and slowly stood up. Craig sat up a bit so he could let his hands slide across Tweek’s exposed skin. The other boy smiled as he stepped between Craig’s opened legs as Craig reached down and started to unbutton the blonde’s jeans. As good as Tweek looked in the tight denim, Craig was more interested in seeing what he looked like with them pooled around his ankles. After a bit of struggle trying to get them down his legs, eventually Tweek was standing in just his boxers, his dick tenting the fabric. Craig wanted what was beneath. He pulled and elastic band over his hips and let the last piece of clothing to fall to the floor.

 

Tweek’s dick was different than his own and definitely not in a bad way. One of the most instantly noticeable ones was that Tweek was not circumcised like he was. His foreskin enveloped around the head of his dick and Craig was intrigued by it.

 

“Well?” Tweek asked nervously.

 

“Well, that’s definitely a dick.” Craig replied. Tweek gently smacked Craig’s shoulder which only caused him to chuckle. Craig reached out and gently folded the foreskin back to reveal the very pink tip of Tweek’s dick. He ran his thumb over the bead of precum that was gathered at the slit which caused Tweek to let out a high-pitched moan. “Come here,” he said. “I want to try something.”

 

He guided the blonde so he was straddling his lap. Craig licked the palm of his hand and reached down to wrap his hand around both of their dicks. They each let out a sharp breath of air as their sensitive members slid together. The friction was almost too much but not enough at the same time. Tweek’s hands gripped at Craig’s shoulders and he pressed their foreheads together. Tweek was letting out little whines and moans as Craig continued to work their dicks together, only breaking to re-wet his palm. 

 

Craig was in a haze. He didn’t even know how he kept his hand moving. He knew his orgasm was drawing near and if he continued there would be no way of stopping it. He leaned forward and kissed Tweek’s lips which made the other boy moan and melt against Craig. “Do you want me to stop?” Craig asked in between kisses.

 

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Tweek replied breathlessly. “I’m so close.”

 

That was initative for Craig to quicken the pace of his hand. He never wanted anything in his life than to see what Tweek looked like as his orgasm rolled through him and he wanted to be the one to bring him there. It didn’t take long. They were both worked up from the excitement of each other and all of the feelings they were experiencing for the first time. Craig felt the all-too-familiar feeling of his impending orgasm, and with one more look at Tweek with his head thrown back and his bottom lip tucked beneath his teeth, Craig came.  _ Hard.  _ So hard that he almost missed the way Tweek’s back arched and his face screwed up as he too reached his orgasm half a moment later.

 

Craig felt spent as his orgasm ended and he slumped back on the couch. Tweek’s body also slumped forward so he was pressed against Craig. As they caught their breath, Craig rubbed one of his hands up and down Tweek’s spine while Tweek pressed kisses against his collarbone. Craig’s body may have felt like jello, but this was the happiest he remembered feeling in a while.

 

“We’re covered in cum,” Tweek said, finally breaking the silence. Craig belted out laughing and Tweek looked up and giggled as well. Craig leaned forward and placed a quick peck to Tweek’s lips before maneuvering the boy off of him so he could go get a wet rag to clean them both off. Tweek was stretched out on the couch when he got back from retrieving the rag with his eyes closed and smile on his face. Craig cleaned him off before sneaking into his room to discard the rag into the hamper and to grab the sheet from his bed. He wasn’t sure if Tweek was fully asleep, but he looked too peaceful to disturb to bring him to his bed. He carefully crawled onto the couch and thankfully Tweek seemed to be awake enough to curl his body around Craig’s so they could both fit.

 

Craig was still a bit in disbelief about the train of events that led him to having Tweek falling asleep in his arms after bringing them both to an intense orgasm, but he wasn’t one to complain. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen after this night, if it was going to make things awkward or if he and Tweek would see each other again. He could only hope for the latter. Craig let out a yawn before kissing the top of Tweek’s head and slipping into sleep.

 

“ _ Oh. My. God.” _

 

Craig woke up in a disoriented haze. He first noticed that Tweek was sleeping soundly on top of him which made him so happy that he almost didn’t comprehend that Kenny was staring down at them looking way too smug for this early in the morning. Tweek rubbed his cheek against the dip of Craig’s collarbone and didn’t seem to have been disturbed by Kenny quite yet. He wished he was in an ignorant state like Tweek right now because he knew Kenny was going to let him have it.

 

“Did my little Craig get  _ laid  _ last night?” he questioned in an obnoxiously chipper voice.

 

“Shut the fuck up, Kenny,” he grumbled, trying his hardest not to wake Tweek. The sleeping blonde boy shifted slightly and Craig held his breath hoping he wasn’t going to wake. 

 

Unfortunately, Craig must have pissed someone off in a past life because Tweek let out a small yawn and slowly opened his eyes. He looked over at Craig and gave him a tired smile before leaning in to kiss him. He must have caught Kenny out of the corner of his eye because before their lips met, Tweek yelled and pulled the sheet that was covering them up to his chin.

 

“Goddamn it, Ken,” he said. “Would you get the hell out of here?” 

 

“Not until you introduce me to your mystery boy here.”

 

Craig let out a long, annoyed sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kenny, Tweek. Tweek, this is my obnoxious roommate, Kenny.”

 

“N-nice to meet you,” Tweek replied from behind the sheet.

 

Kenny smirked which made Craig uneasy. “It is a pleasure to meet you,  _ mon cher _ ,” Kenny said. “I would say I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances, but I’d be lying.”

 

Craig groaned and pointed towards Kenny’s room. “Leave. Now.”

 

Kenny raised his hands up in surrender and started walking down the hallway. Of course, he couldn’t make his exit until he thrusted his hips and made many lewd gestures in their direction. Thankfully, only Craig saw before Kenny disappeared to his room.  Both boys on the couch sighed in relief.

 

“I’m so sorry about him,” Craig said. “I love Kenny, but he loves to bust my chops and he’s the biggest flirt I know.”

 

Tweek chuckled and sat up from his spot on top of Craig and stretched out his arms. “It’s okay,” he said. “It was embarrassing and probably the most awkward way I could have met your roommate, but he seems like a nice guy.”

 

Not long after, they decided it was best if they got dressed. They gathered all of their clothes that were scattered across the floor until they were mostly looking presentable. Tweek unfortunately had to go because he had to attend one of his weekly NA meetings, and Craig didn’t want to admit how much he didn’t want him to leave. They lingered in the doorway for longer than they needed, just staring at each other and smiling. Craig decided to take the leap and ask what has been itching at the back of his mind before they even fell asleep. “Will I see you again?” 

  
Tweek seemed to contemplate his decision for a second before giggling softly. “Of course you’ll see me,” he said. Tweek stood up on his tip toes and kissed Craig’s morning chapped lips. Craig’s arms found their way around Tweek’s neck and let himself get lost in the feeling of Tweek’s kiss. They eventually had to pull away, but before Tweek turned to walk away, he made Craig promise to text him later. Of course, Craig agreed. As if he had any other choice at all. As soon as Tweek was out of sight, Craig closed the door and leaned back against the heavy wood.  _ These blonde boys will be the death of him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys like it. Tweek and Kenny are going to start forming their bond in the next chapter. Please leave me comments if you are enjoying the story so far! They definitely keep me motivated. Until next time!


	3. Part III. Tweek's Path

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmmm hi??? It has been two years. I honestly have no excuse for this. I absolutely love this story. It means the world to me and I've had this chapter almost completely written for over a year now. I don't know what about it made it so hard to finish but I just couldn't get through it. I read all of the wonderful comments of people asking me for an update but I still couldn't push through whatever barrier was keeping me from continuing. This story is my baby and I've always had every intention on continuing it and I'm going to try so fucking hard to be better.
> 
> I'm really sorry if this chapter is a mess. I've rewritten it so many times and I'm sure I've missed a lot of mistakes. I just really needed to get this out because two years? Seriously? Way too fucking long.

There are certain events that happen to someone that end up changing the entire course of their lives. It may not seem that important at first, but the events following can trigger the most significant string of events that changes everything. For Tweek, that moment was a simple touch of the hand and a cigarette.

Tweek had always felt like he was different from the rest of his peers. He was fidgety and anxious about almost everything. His parents told him that he was perfectly normal, that he was just a spaz. Tweek didn’t feel normal. Sure, he had his own small group of friends and did pretty well in school, but he still didn’t feel like he was the same as those people in his class. When he was younger, the other kids would point out Tweek’s behavior and ask why he was like that. Tweek didn’t have an answer and eventually they stopped asking. It was just “one of those Tweek things”.

He had a normal childhood. He hung out with his small group of friends, broke his arm climbing a tree, and got into tiffs with his parents. Normal, boring, all-American childhood. His life was completely uprooted when he first entered high school. The night before his first day, he stood in front of his mirror and tried on about fifty different outfits before he settled on the one he was going to wear the next day. He triple checked to make sure he had his notebooks, pens, highlighters, and his calculator. The next morning, he spent way too long trying to tame his hair but no matter how hard he tried, his hair would still stick up in a wild mess. His stomach was in knots and he couldn’t even think about eating breakfast.

For how much stress he put himself through over starting high school, it ended up being no different from being in middle school. Some friend groups shifted to allow more people in or pushed others out. It was interesting to observe as an outsider. Tweek still had his friends, but some of them dispersed into other groups and that was okay. He still liked to hang out with them on the weekends or after school, but Tweek enjoyed eating lunch by himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be around his friends and was trying to seclude himself from them, but with all of the homework and stress that school brings, he liked spending those forty minutes by himself. It gave him time to not have to worry about anything and just collect himself, maybe work on some homework if he felt like it. His friends understood. They had grown used to his anxiety and the many different ways Tweek used to cope with it. It was just another one of those “Tweek things”.

He sat by himself for a couple of months before someone interrupted his routine of eating alone. It was a boy with pockmarks scattered across his face and a cigarette tucked behind one of his ears. He seemed to be a few years older, maybe even a senior. His eyes were rimmed dark with eyeliner and his hair was partially dyed bright red. “Hey,” the boy said. His voice was smooth and dark and he intimidated Tweek quite a bit. Everything about the boy was intimidating. It wasn’t just the dark clothes but his entire demeanor was unlike anything Tweek had ever seen before.

“H-hi,” Tweek replied nervously.

“You sit here everyday,” the boy said. It wasn’t a question, more of an observation so Tweek just replied with a slight nod of his head. “Do you smoke?”

The question put Tweek off a bit. He didn’t smoke, he never found the need to but for some reason he lied that day. Tweek was not usually one to take risks as it made him to anxious. He nodded his head and a small smirk flickered on the boy’s face as he stood up and offered Tweek his hand. The boy, who hadn’t even told Tweek his name yet, brought him to the back of the school near a row of dumpsters. He took the cigarette from behind his ear, slipped a lighter from his back pocket and lit it up. The other boy took a drag before handing it over to Tweek. 

The images of a blackened diseased lung that he had seen in health class flashed in his mind, but he pushed those thoughts away. He didn’t want the other boy to think he was lame even though he had no reason to care about such things. He was used for people thinking he was weird or uncool. Why should this be any different? The blonde put the cigarette between his fingers and stared at it. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he decided to ignore his inner instincts screaming at him. He tried to mimic what the other boy had done. He carefully balanced the cigarette between his two fingers, brought it to his lips and inhaled. As soon as Tweek felt the smoke hit the back of his throat, he started coughing.

The other boy chuckled and started to pat Tweek on the back. Once he was done coughing the other boy took another drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke back towards Tweek. “First time?”

Tweek nodded his head sheepishly. 

“I thought so. Here,” the boy said. “We’ll shotgun it.” Tweek had know idea what shotgunning was, but once the boy told him to relax, he soon found himself with the other boy’s lips pressed against his own. Tweek’s eyes went wide as he felt the other boy exhaling into his mouth and smoke filled up Tweek’s mouth. He inhaled slowly as the boy continued to press his lips against Tweek’s before pulling away.

The other boy had a smirk on his face when they pulled away. He took one more drag of his cigarette before saying, “I’m Pete.”

Tweek licked his lips, tasting the remnants of the boy’s lips. “Tweek.”

After that first encounter, Tweek ended up spending more time with Pete. He was different than any of his friends but Tweek still felt drawn to him in a way he couldn’t explain. They shared a love of black coffee and spent time listening to vinyls of music Tweek had never heard before. However, his friends didn’t seem to like Pete. Whenever they were hanging out with Tweek they would ask why he was hanging out with the goth kid and how they thought Pete was a freak. Tweek didn’t understand. He liked Pete. His perspective on life and the world were different than anyone that he’d met before. The other boy was cynical and had a dark sense of humor, but Tweek craved his company.

After that first time their lips touched they did nothing similar for a long time. Tweek had become better at inhaling the smoke into his lungs after a while and was able to successful take a drag whenever Pete offered some of his cigarette. He didn’t think much of the fact that Pete hadn’t kissed him again, even though he felt like that one kiss awakened something in him. He never thought seriously about his sexuality. He didn’t look at girls, he didn’t look at boys. He was oblivious to anything and everything sexual. Even though Pete’s lips were rough from chewing on his bottom lip, Tweek wanted them pressed against his again.

One day, Tweek was in Pete’s dimly lit room while a vinyl of The Doors ‘Strange Days’ crackled on the record player. Pete was sitting with his back against the wall that his mattress was pushed against and Tweek was lying down with his head on the only pillow tucked under his head. They didn’t talk for a long while and Tweek almost started to drift off when Pete finally broke the silence. “Want to makeout?”

Tweek almost laughed at the bluntness of the other boy’s statement but it’s not like he hadn’t been thinking of it himself. He sat up and looked over at Pete. He was watching Tweek with a hard stare which made Tweek even more anxious. “I….” he started. “I’ve….I’ve never actually….”

A smirk appeared on Pete’s face and there was a new glint in his eyes. “I can show you.”

The kiss started as the last one had, just a slight pressure of their lips sealing together. That part was easy. Tweek could handle that. It only became more complicated when Pete started to coax his mouth open with his tongue. It took some getting used to. Tweek had no idea how to move his tongue or when to open or close his mouth. He tried to follow Pete’s lead and did what felt natural. After some initial awkwardness, Tweek found himself enjoying himself. After that first time, Tweek found himself wanting to kiss Pete more often. He tasted like coffee and cigarettes and Tweek was hooked.

Eventually, Pete introduced Tweek to his other friends. It was a small intimate group that had all apparently been friends for years. They all intimidated Tweek just like Pete had the first time they had met. The oldest, Michael, was nineteen and graduated the year before. Henrietta, the only female of the group, was only a year older than himself and was quite cold towards Tweek. Pete told him that she was icy towards new people but that he shouldn’t take it too seriously. He still found it hard to not squirm with the harsh gaze of the girl on him. The youngest, Firkle, was only in sixth grade. Tweek didn’t know the story of how someone so young ended up hanging out with people much older than himself, but Tweek liked him because as much as he talked about hating the world like the others, he still had a childlike way about him that made him easier to get along with.

Sometimes they would hang out as a whole group, but many times it would just be him, Pete, and Michael. The two other boys apparently had a deep history together and were the closest in the group. Even though he eventually grew to like Michael and even enjoyed spending time with the two of them, Tweek wished that he had never strayed from hanging out with the whole group. If he hadn’t, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten involved in the trouble that nearly ruined his life.

Tweek didn’t even realize that his friends stopping trying to get him to hang out with him. At first, they expressed their distaste for Pete, that didn’t stop them from being friends. Eventually, is friends stopped trying to reach out to him all together. Tweek didn’t blame them.

Michael hadn’t gone to college or some kind of secondary school after he graduated and it didn’t seem like he had a job. Somehow, he still managed to live in the only semi decent apartment near the center of town. Tweek had wondered about it but never asked. He thought that maybe he had come from a family with money. Never would he have guessed he made all of his money from less than savory ways. They had been hanging out at Michael’s place, just the three of them, when Michael asked. “You two want to smoke?”

Being the naive fifteen year old that he was, Tweek assumed he meant a cigarette. Pete smoked in his room all the time so it wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with or he wouldn’t have been surprised if Michael did as well. The oldest boy reached forward and opened up a chest that he had sitting on the coffee table in front of them. He pulled out what seemed to be a large bottle that would hold prescription pills. There was no rattling of pills as he opened up the top and showed the contents to Pete but there did seem to be something inside. The other boy’s face broke out into a mischievous smirk and nodded his head. “I’m in.”

Tweek watched intently as Michael pulled out a large bud of marijuana and placed it into a circular container and started to twist it in his hands. Tweek’s eyes grew wide. He could feel his anxiety creeping up because he never thought he would be around any kind of drug. After a moment, he opened the container, the marijuana was grinded up into smaller pieces. He never knew there were so many steps to smoking marijuana but he supposed they weren’t exactly going to cover that part of drug use in health class. He bit down on his lower lip as Michael finished packing a large glass piece and pulled out a lighter. He turned towards Tweek with an eyebrow arched up in question. “Do you want to smoke, Tweek?”

He felt like a spotlight was shining on him, burning a hole right through him. The truth was, he really didn’t want to. He had visions of red and blue cop lights taking him away to spend the rest of his life in prison but the stares of the two boys made him feel like he was cracking. “I don’t….I’ve never….before..”

Pete moved across the couch so his leg was pressed up to Tweek and his hand went to his knee. “C’mon, Tweek,” he coaxed. “I promise you’ll like it. It’s just like smoking a cigarette but it’s so much more relaxing.” He didn’t want to seem like he was a square in front of them, so he slowly nodded his head which made Pete grin. “I’ll even help you. Just like the first time.” That made Tweek’s cheeks flush and he eagerly nodded his head.

Truth be told, it really was relaxing. It was hard to explain, but it wasn’t as scary as people made it seem. He even enjoyed it. Pete was more affectionate with him while he was high which made Tweek preen. He would pull Tweek into his lap and kiss his collarbone. He would run his fingers through his hair and of course there was much more kissing than when they were sober. The blonde would be lying if he didn’t enjoy the extra attention. It almost made him feel loved.

He was able to make it through his freshman year without anything affecting his grades much. He sometimes forgot to finish an assignment because he had been spending time with Pete and his friends, but he managed to pull things off in the end. Things started to change noticeably during his second year. He spent as much time as he could with Pete. His parents were so thrilled that Tweek had a boyfriend, even though Pete had never established that they were in an actual relationship, that they never said anything when he would spend his time with him.

He enjoyed his time with Pete, even when things started to change in him. He noticed that Pete was starting to become more distant towards him. Tweek was afraid he had done something wrong to upset him. He tried not to push the subject because quite honestly he was afraid of the answer.

They had been sitting at Benny’s In their usual booth with only a pot of coffee between them. Tweek filled his mug up generously as usual and started to sip away. The coffee was incredibly mediocre as usual, but Pete and his friends had been coming there for years so Tweek never commented on the coffee’s bitter taste. After his first couple of sips, Pete made a noise that almost sounded like a growl and banged his fist on the table. “Would you fucking stop that?” he snapped. “That little sipping noise is so fucking irritating.”

Tweek was in shock. Pete never shouted at him before. His voice was usually cool and uncaring towards everything. Tweek set his mug down and licked his lips. “I’m...I’m sorry, Pete,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to be annoying.”

Pete exhaled and reached his hands over the table to grabbed Tweek’s gently. “Shit,” he said. “I’m so sorry, Tweek. I didn’t mean that.”

Tweek looked from Pete’s hands and his face and frowned. “What’s going on, Pete?” he finally asked the burning question he had been wanting to ask for weeks. “You’ve been distant for a while now and then you snapped at me for practically no reason.”

“I know, I know,” he said. “I’ve just been super stressed lately. ‘Been fighting with my step-dad a lot and it’s just been getting to me.”

Tweek nodded his head and decided it was better to drop it.

For the next few days, Pete was extra doting to Tweek. He was uncharastically kind and even though he was skeptical, Tweek would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. That behavior only lasted for a short time before Pete became distant again. It went on for about a week before Pete seemed to disappear. Texts were left unanswered, his calls would go straight to voicemail. Tweek was a wreck and was worried that something terrible had happened to the other boy. As a last desperate attempt, he found himself outside of Michael’s apartment with his knuckles hovering just above the door. He didn’t want to seem like he was being creepy, but Tweek had to know if the other boy was okay and Michael was the one who most likely would know where Pete was. He knocked on the door a few times, and after a minute of no answer, the door opened to reveal the oldest of Pete’s friend group.

“Hey, Tweek,” Michael said, a cigarette tucked behind his ear.

“Is Pete here? I haven’t heard from him for days and I’m starting to get worried.”

The tall man opened the door wider and stepped aside to allow Tweek inside. The blonde saw Pete on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. At the sound of footsteps approaching him his head turned around to see Tweek standing there. His lips turned up and he stood up and approached Tweek with his arms opened wide. “Tweek!” he exclaimed as he pulled him into a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Tweek’s face scrunched up in confusion. There had been nothing but silence from Pete for an entire week and he was acting as if things were normal. “Where the fuck have you been?” Tweek questioned. “I’ve been trying to contact you for a week and nothing. I’ve been worried, dude.”

“You have?” Pete replied. “Huh.”

“Well?” Tweek pushed. “What the hell is going on, Pete?”

Pete’s lips curled into a smirk as he placed a hand on Tweek’s shoulder. “I’ve started a new chapter in my life, Tweek,” he said. “I’ve been reborn.” He placed a sloppy kiss to Tweek’s lips before whispering, “I want you on this journey with me.”

He wasn’t making any sense but before he could get a word out, Pete took his hand and pulled Tweek over to the couch. Michael was sitting there and he was setting up multiple lines of what Tweek knew right away was cocaine. His mouth felt dry. Was this all Pete was doing the entire week he couldn’t get ahold of him? Pete had never given him any indication that he did anything more than smoke weed and this terrified him.

“Come on, Tweekers,” Michael said with a dark chuckle. “I promise you’ll like it.”

Tweek didn’t want to. He would admit that he did enjoy smoking weed with them, but this was something else. He felt Pete’s eyes on him and it felt like they were burning into his soul. He didn’t want to disappoint him. He didn’t want Pete to disappear again. “O-okay. I’ll...I’ll do it.”  
And that was it. It made him feel so good that when he was offered it the next time, he agreed instantly. Maybe it wasn’t so bad as it always was made out to be. As they began to do it more often, Tweek started skipping school. When he did go to school, he was agitated and uninterested in class and obviously his grades started to fall drastically. When the school contacted his parents, they were convinced he was just going through a phase. He loved his parents, but he wishes now they hadn’t been so naive. He couldn’t blame them. The Tweek he used to be would never try drugs, but he wasn’t that Tweek anymore. His innocent way of looking at the world had long since left. Now he was a shadow of who he used to be.

His drug use got so bad that he couldn’t seem to function without it. He would never admit to the addiction, but cocaine had a tight hold on his life and it didn’t want to let go. 

What ended up being the worst night of his life had started out like any other night. He was at Michael’s, Pete at his side and they were setting up line after line. Tweek’s mouth was watering and he wanted to feel that spark inside him. Line after line disappeared, and even after he usually stopped, he decided to keep going. The other boys found it hilarious that Tweek kept going.

While he felt fine at first, suddenly it was too much. His heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to burst from his chest. He felt like he was suffocating. He was scared. Petrified. He felt like Death himself was whispering into his ear and trying to take Tweek with him. He didn’t want to die.

And then darkness.

Tweek felt himself go in and out of consciousness and when he finally woke up, he realized he was being rushed to the emergency room and Tweek could hardly comprehend the situation he found himself in. How had he gotten here? He had no idea. Everything was a blur of bright lights and the shuffling of feet of the nurses and doctors. He saw them stick something into his arm and they placed an oxygen mask over his mouth to help stabilize his breathing. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, but eventually the room wasn’t so frantic and Tweek became stabilized. While Tweek felt like absolute shit, they told him that he was going to be okay. He didn’t feel that way. His forehead was drenched in sweat but he still felt like he was freezing. They attached him to more wires that he didn’t even know or care what they did but he was too exhausted to ask.

His parents showed up soon after, his mother sobbing and his dad’s face looked completely white. The image of them would forever be ingrained in his mind. He started to cry. He never thought he would end up like this. His mother held him, carefully avoiding the wires still attached to his body. After a couple of hours, his parents left so that Tweek could get some rest. His mother placed a kiss on his forehead, her eyes still shiny and wet with unshed tears, and his dad squeeze his shoulder and told him they’d be back later. He was alone with his thoughts which was in a dangerous place. He thought about how much he had disappointed his parents, how he had disappointed himself. He couldn’t believe he let a boy push him into the broken mess that he had become. He started to sob violently. His entire body shook as he let reality truly set in. He had heard the doctor talking quietly to his parents when they thought he was asleep about the benefits of Tweek going to treatment. The idea of going to treatment was terrifying. He knew he had hit his bottom, he knew he needed help but he also couldn’t imagine going through life without the crutch of the cocaine. As much of his life it had taken away, it also gave him the push to continue living. When he wasn’t on it, he felt so depressed and hopeless and once the powder entered his nose, he got a rush of euphoria that took him away from this world for a while.

He heard the door to his room creak open and the last person he expected to visit him walked through the door. It was Pete. He had no idea who let him in since he wasn’t family but there he was. He looked terrified as he took in the image of Tweek attached to all of the wires in his hospital bed. He didn’t want him here. How dare he show his face here after all that had happened?

“Tweek….” Pete said barely over a whisper. For the first time since Tweek had known him, Pete was actually showing an emotion other than apathy. His eyes were wet, although no tears ever fell. 

“What are you doing here, Pete?” Tweek said hoarsely.

Pete didn’t step away from the door. He just stood there with a look of fear mixed with disbelief. “I needed to make sure you were okay,” he said. 

Tweek wanted to scream at him. Pete was the one who introduced him to drugs, he was the one who he was with when this all happened. How dare he come here now when Tweek was at his lowest. “Why do you care?”

Pete bit down on his lower lip. “I-I know I don’t ever show emotion,” he said. “And I say that emotions are for conformists but...I care about you, Tweek. That’s why we brought you here.”

“You brought me here?”

“Well, yeah,” he continued. “We couldn’t call an ambulance because, you know, Michael didn’t want to get in trouble since there are drugs in his apartment but we weren’t just going to let you…” There was a small pregnant pause before Pete eventually added, “...die.”

It hit Tweek right then. He knew what happened to him was incredibly scary, and even though he knew death could have very well have been a possibility, hearing it said out loud was overwhelming. He started to sob then. Fat tears were running down his cheek as the reality really set in.

“Please leave,” he was able to say through his tears. “And don’t come back.”

Pete nodded his head and with one last look Tweek, he quietly closed the door behind him. That was the last time Tweek ever saw of him. After being in the hospital for a couple of days, Tweek was able to go home with his parents. They told him how much they loved him, and they wanted him better. The way they decided was best for him to do that was going to a teen treatment center. Tweek hated the idea, but he agreed to make his parents happy.

The first time he walked into the building, he noticed it wasn't as scary as he had built it up in his head. It was clean and the windows let in a lot of light into the building. It wasn't so bad. When they walked him through the building giving him a tour, there were a lot of boys that looked like they belonged in a place like this, but there were others that didn't. It made him feel much more relaxed. He could do this. It wasn’t one-on-one sessions like he thought it was going to be. Most of the time he was in a group of other boys his age and they would talk about their addiction and how they ended up in treatment. As more people spoke the first day of his group, the started to realize they were all very similar. They all had different stories, different paths that led them to where they were now, but the underlying themes were all exactly the same. They were all chasing something. Some wanted to escape the situation they were in or to forget some sort of trauma, others were chasing the rush of euphoria they felt when they used their drug of choice, and like him, others just wanted to feel something. He didn’t speak that first day, but the next day he felt comfortable enough to speak. He was anxious sharing such personal details about himself to a group of strangers, but he was surprised at how much of a weight he felt lifted off of his shoulders when he was finished speaking. 

Most of the boys there also had some kind of co-occurring disorders which even if they weren't the direct cause of why they started using substances, it definitely affected why they continued. Tweek always knew there was something different about him, but after talking to multiple mental health specialists and getting diagnosed with ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, it all seemed to finally make sense. Treatment was not at all what he expected it to be, but it ended up being the best thing to ever happen to him. He grew as a person. He had people to talk about his problems with but it wasn't until he he real test was going out into the world again and trying to continue to keep up his progress. His counselor reassured him that he was going to get properly treated for his mental illnesses and continue to have group sessions in outpatient treatment. That made him feel better, but there were other things he was not ready to face. He didn’t want to go back to school and face his classmates. He didn’t want to deal with the whispers, the stares when they think he’s not looking, or even worse, any kind of confrontation. 

It was rough. No one talked to him and just like he thought there were plenty of whispers. The worst part was seeing the people who once were his closest friends completely ignore him like he didn’t exist. He threw away his friendships over a boy who left him with nothing. Now he sat at lunch alone because no one would sit with him and it was all completely his fault.

As difficult and as lonely as it was at times, it did give him the motivation to continue to better himself. It motivated him to do whatever he could to get out of the small town and make something of himself. Somehow he managed to move his grade point average back up with the help of summer school and extra credit that he was accepted into the University of Denver for their nursing program. His parents were so proud of him, which meant everything to him. They had done so much for him since he got out of treatment that he was glad he could give something back to them.

He was thankfully able to find a chapter of Narcotics Anonymous close to campus and was able to be matched with his sponsor, Mike. He was in his mid-thirties and had been sober for over ten years. He also used to be addicted to cocaine so he knew what Tweek went through and continued to struggle with. He was also gay which was an added bonus as well.

Mike had suggested to Tweek to continue to focus on his self-care and his school work. The blonde completely agreed and had all intentions of keeping to that, and then Craig happened. Their Psych 101 class had over one-hundred people in it, but when they had run into each other in the hallway, Tweek had recognized the blue chullo hat the other boy wore every day. When they were up close, Tweek noticed the stormy blue-grey color Craig’s eyes were and he was memorized. While Tweek never paid much attention to the head the hat was attached to, Tweek was instantly taken by how attractive the raven-haired boy was.

Even though Tweek was usually one to shy away from putting himself out there for new people, the blonde decided to ignore his inner instincts and sat next to Craig the next day they had class together. The last time he did that his life ended up crumbling down around him but he decided to take a chance anyway. They talked a bit before their professor walked in front of the class and turned on the projector for the Powerpoint. Tweek was usually very focused in class but he couldn’t help but be a bit distracted by the boy next to him. He was usually not so comfortable talking with new people. He would trip over his words and he bit his lip more than usual. He didn’t feel at all uncomfortable with Craig even though they had only spoken a couple of times. He thought about the fraternity party he stupidly agreed to go to and wondered if maybe Craig would go with him. Tweek definitely wouldn’t mind the company and he was interested in finding out more about Craig.

The whole way to his meeting from that first night they had spent together, Tweek’s head felt dizzy and his lips tingled with the memory of Craig’s rose petal lips pressed against his own. He couldn’t believe how amazing the night before had been and how comfortable he felt with Craig. The boy was funny and insightful. They could easily hold a conversation about anything. He could barely pay attention as other people shared their stories of their past struggles with drugs and their recovery. After the meeting ended, Mike approached him and patted him on the shoulder.

“Hi there, Tweek,” he said. “You seemed a bit distracted his morning.”

“Oh?” he questioned.

“Yeah, but you also had a dopey grin on your face the whole time,” he said with a smile and a quirked brow. “Anything you’d like to share?”

Tweek chuckled softly. “I guess,” he replied. “I guess I kind of met someone.”

“Is that so?”

The blonde nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I know we agreed it was better for me to focus on self-care, but this one kind of just ran into me when I wasn’t even looking. Literally.”

Mike nodded his head. “You’re not forbidden from seeing people, Tweek. I don’t want you to think that’s what I expect from you,” he said. “I know how much your schooling means to you and you’re very dedicated to doing well. You’re a smart kid, from the short time that I’ve known you. I know that you’re also dedicated to your sobriety. As long as those two things continue to be priorities in your life, I think there’s nothing wrong with having a boy in your life.” He chuckled. “Or two.”

Tweek rolled his eyes and smiled. “I think I’ll stick with the one for now.”

Mike grinned and then a silence fell between them for a few beats. “So,” he started. “Is he cute?”

“The cutest.”

He and Craig began to hang out more and more over the following weeks. Sometimes they would end up tangled up in Craig’s bed with their hands roaming all over each other and coming to climax with their sweaty bodies pressed together and their breath heavy and uneven. Just as often, they would spend the night with their textbooks spread across the floor while they studied on upcoming assignments or on Craig’s couch binge watching the X-Files. When they had those nights, Craig’s roommate Kenny would sometimes join them. Tweek really liked Kenny. He was so charismatic and charming. He was also a huge flirt which made Tweek’s cheeks burn red at first, but after a while Tweek even found himself flirting back. Platonically, of course. Friend flirting.

It had been so long since Tweek felt so comfortable around others. Craig didn’t judge him when he told him about Pete and his time in treatment. He told Tweek he was strong; that he was proud of him. Even though logically he knew that his actions were not entirely his fault and that he acted out of fear and manipulation by someone he cared about, he still had a tiny nagging voice at the back of his head telling him otherwise. Another thing that Craig made Tweek realize is that he had never truly experienced romantic love. What he had with Pete was an infatuation. Pete was different and mysterious and he intrigued young and innocent Tweek who had always felt different from his peers. 

It wasn’t like what he felt for Craig. The raven-haired boy would do little things that warmed Tweek’s heart. The way he would rest his chin on his shoulder when they were waiting in line somewhere, the way he could tell when Tweek’s was getting anxious while they were studying and would brush his thumb over Tweek’s knuckles to help calm him, and most impressive is knowing how to make Tweek’s coffee just the way he liked it. Craig was everything he could ever hope for in a significant other which is why Tweek knew he wanted to give his virginity to him.

They were alone in Craig’s apartment one Friday night wrapped up in each other on the couch. There was a show playing on the TV but Tweek wasn’t paying any attention to it. Their hands were running along each other’s bodies and they were kissing lazily, just enjoying being in each other’s space. While it was all innocent, Tweek was certain that he wanted it to happen tonight. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it for weeks and he needed to take the plunge. Tweek pulled away just slightly, his forehead still resting against Craig’s, when he decided to bite the bullet and ask. “Craig?” he said softly.

Craig hummed in response and pulled his head away just slightly. “What’s up?”

“I-I wanted to ask you something,” he said as he anxiously rang his hands together.

Craig pulled back even more so he could properly look Tweek in the eyes. “What is it?”

Tweek bit down on his lower lip, slowly building up the courage to finally ask. “We-we’ve been together f-for a while now and I….and I….” He quickly let out a shaky breath before quickly asked “Willyoutakemyvirginity?”

“What was that?”

The blonde let out a frustrated groan before letting out another deep breath and asked more clearly. “Will you take my virginity?”

There was only a beat of silence, but it was a beat of silence too much for Tweek. “Oh god,” he said. “I just asked you to take my virginity like I was asking for a stick of gum.” Tweek hid his face in the crook of Craig’s neck and let out a groan of frustration. “Goddamn it, Tweek.”

“Tweek,” Craig said as he pushed Tweek’s face away from his shoulder. “Calm down, okay?” He pressed a kiss to Tweek’s lips and smiled. “Of course I’ll take your virginity, you idiot.” Craig licked his lips and chuckled. “It’s not just your virginity, you know,” he said as he placed a kiss against Tweek’s temple. “It’s mine, too.” A kiss on his eyelid. “And I want you to take it just as badly.”

Tweek smiled. "Really?" 

"Of course, you dork." 

They both stood up then, their hands clasped tightly together as they made their way to Craig’s room. Even though he was nervous, Tweek knew that he was making the right decision and he was glad they both got to experience this together. They laid down on the bed facing each other; an indescribable buzz of energy radiating around them. “Let me know if you ever feel uncomfortable and we’ll stop right away,” the other boy said.

“The same goes for you.”

Craig smiled and nodded his head before closing the small space between them and kissed Tweek. This part Tweek was familiar. They had done this plenty of times where Tweek’s nerves were calmed. He loved kissing Craig. He loved the way he touched him, gentle but firm, and Tweek loved touching him. Even though all of the sexual activities were new to the both of them, they always seemed to be in-tuned with one another. They each knew the way the other wanted to be kissed, whether they wanted it gentle and slow or frenzied and rough. 

The dark haired boy started to kiss Tweek’s neck, his tongue running along his pulse point, when he started to push Tweek’s shirt up. The blonde helped him take it off, practically throwing it on the other side of the room. He wanted to feel Craig’s skin against his own so he wasted no time helping the other boy out of his own shirt. Craig went back to Tweek’s neck, alternating between kissing, licking, and biting. The blonde groaned. “Craig,” he said. “Fucking kiss me, please.”

“Have I ever told you that you get bossy in bed?”

Before Tweek could even respond, Craig’s lips were back on his and he pulled Tweek on top of him. Tweek’s hands found themselves in Craig’s hair and he gripped it tightly between his fingers. He was getting lost in the moment, feeling Craig’s hands roam along his sides and across his hips. He was shaking, he knew it, and Craig knew it too. The dark-haired boy pulled back from the kiss nipping down lightly on Tweek’s lower lip. Craig’s hands moved lower and lower until he felt Craig’s firm grip on the front of his jeans. Tweek groaned and bucked his hips into Craig’s touch. The other boy’s fingers were like magic and were able to quickly unbutton the front of Tweek’s pants even though he was obviously worked up just as much as Tweek was. Craig's hand went down the front of Tweek's jeans and squeezed his dick through his briefs. Tweek hissed and bit down on his lower lip as the dark haired boy started to rub him outside of his underwear. It wasn't enough.

"Craig," he groaned. 

The other boy chuckled, much to Tweek's annoyance, before finally, _finally_ , pulling Tweek's pants down around his ankles. Tweek helped kick them off the rest of the way so he was completely naked in front of his boyfriend. Craig licked his lips as he looked at Tweek, making the blonde blush a dark shade of red. Craig had seen him naked plenty of times now, but this was different. This was going to lead to something they both had never experienced before. Uncharted territory. Tweek reached forward towards the other boy before pulling him down for a kiss. Craig was eager to kiss him back, slow but firm. Tweek was scared shitless, but he was ready.

As Craig reached downward to take hold of Tweek's dick, Tweek intercepted him and grabbed his wrist. "Wait," he said. "We-we haven't really talked about, um, how this is going to work and um who...who is going to do what." Craig started laughing and Tweek playfully hit his chest and hid his face in the crook of the other boy's collarbone. "I'm being serious!"

"Okay, okay," Craig said. The raven haired boy rubbed his hand along the blonde boy's side soothingly. "I guess I don't really care, if we're being honest," he continued. "There isn't one way that appeals to me more than the other. I just want you in whatever way I can. In _all_ the ways I can. Whatever you're most comfortable with."

Tweek kissed him again. He was so grateful to have found someone as understanding and wonderful as Craig. After the disaster of what could barely be called a relationship with Pete, Tweek didn't expect to find someone who would make him feel so comfortable and so sure of himself. Tweek regretted a lot of things in his life, but being with Craig right in that moment would never be one. "I think," the blonde started before biting down on his lower lip. "I think, at least this time, I want you....in me." He blushed a bright shade of crimson. He expected Craig to tease him about how embarassed he was getting, but when Tweek braved a look at the other boy, his face was completely serious. 

Craig licked his lips before closing the gap between their lips once more. There was still so much left unsaid, but they would figure it out together. Tweek felt a bit vulnerable being the only one totally naked, so with fumbling hands he started to undo the button of Craig's pants. It was a struggle, but eventually he was able to get his pants down his boyfriend's thighs and onto the floor of his bedroom. 

Tweek reached his hand down and wrapped his fingers around Craig's dick. The other boy moaned and bucked his hips into Tweek's touch. _God, his boyfriend was so hot like this_ he thought as he continued to move his hand along Craig's shaft. Craig's hands were moving all over Tweek's body; along his sides, down his back and eventually he felt Craig's strong hands grab his ass. Tweek whimpered at the contact. 

Craig squeezed his ass a few times before he felt a finger brush against his hole. Tweek gasped loudly. 

"Is this okay?" Craig asked, almost sounding nervous. 

Tweek nodded his head and pushed his ass out slightly to meet Craig's finger again. "Y-yeah," he said, licking his lips. "Do you have lube?" 

Craig quickly shuffled away from Tweek and reached over to open the top drawer of his nightstand, retrieving a small bottle of lube. 

They had never done this part before and Tweek was nervous. What if he hated it? Wasn't a big part of being gay liking this kind of stuff? He knew his thoughts would probably sound stupid to anyone else, but he couldn't help himself. He watched as Craig coated his fingers with the lube and he felt his heart race. This was it. Even with his shaky nerves, he didn't want anything more than Craig right now. Craig brushed a tentative finger against Tweek's entrance, causing the blonde to gasp. The lube was cold against his bare skin but the more Craig teased his hole, the warmer it got. Just as the teasing was becoming too much, Craig finally, _finally_ slipped his finger inside of Tweek. There was a slight resistance at the intrusion, but it wasn't anything uncomfortable. 

"How do you feel?" Craig asked as he began to move in finger slowly inside of his boyfriend. 

Tweek let out a small whimper and licked his lips. "It-it's weird," he replied. "But it actually feels kind of good. I-I think I want another." 

Craig smirked as he slid in a second finger along with the first. This time here was more of a sting, but with Craig kissing his neck and telling him how good he was doing, it was pretty easy to push through until it started to feel good again. Tweek moaned and bit down on his lower lip as Craig scissored his fingers inside of him, stretching him out for what was to come. Almost immediately after Craig introduced a third fingers, Tweek knew he was ready. He was so turned on and he wanted Craig inside of him _now._

"Craig, please," he begged. "I'm ready. Please, please fuck me." 

Craig slowed the movement of his hands, his fingers still buried deep inside the blonde. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes--god I want this so much. Please, Craig." 

The dark-haired boy removed his fingers, causing Tweek to whine out a the loss, and reached over to the previously discarded lube. He opened the bottle and got a generous amount of lube and spread it all over his dick. This was it. Tweek was about to lose his virginity. The two boy's eyes locked before their mouths met for a sweet, tender kiss which instantly calmed Tweek's nerves. "Tell me if you're uncomfortable," Craig said. Tweek could only nod. 

Craig took his dick into his hand and aligned it with Tweek's entrance. After a few slow, agonizing seconds, Tweek felt the blunt head of his boyfriend slowly enter him. The stretch burned much more than Craig's fingers and Tweek didn't realize he was holding his breath until he knew Craig was fully inside of him. Both boy's breaths were heavy in the air around them, both getting used to the new sensations. "T-tweek are you okay?" 

Tweek nodded his head vigorously. "Y-yeah," he replied. "Just give me a minute." 

It was weird feeling so full, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Even with the pain, Tweek still felt a rush of giddiness at _that was Craig inside of him_. Craig, who he was completely falling for. Craig, who accepts Tweek for who he is. Craig, who makes him happier than he's ever been in his entire life. After getting used to the feeling, he knew he wanted the other boy to continue. "Okay, please," the blonde said. "Move. I'm ready." 

Craig's pulled himself almost all the way out of Tweek before pushing back in, making both boys moan. The friction between their two bodies made Tweek's toes curl. The initial pain was worth it one hundred times over with how good Craig felt thrusting into him. The blonde's fingers dug deeply into Craig's shoulders; like if he didn't he would just float away. Their foreheads pressed together, both sticky and hot, and they stared into each other's eyes. It was almost too much. They both craned their necks forward at the same time and pressed their lips together in a sloppy kiss that was more tongue than anything else but it was everything he wanted. 

"God, Tweek, you feel so good," Craig whispered against Tweek's quivering lips. 

Tweek let out a whine in response and arched himself into Craig's body even further (if that was even possible). He was so embarrassingly close to coming but he didn't want it to end. He always wanted to be filled by Craig now that he knows how amazing it was. They had plenty of time for that, however. Tweek had no intentions of ever letting this boy out of his sight. He would cherish him for as long as he'd let him. "Craig," he moaned. "I'm so close. Please, I--" 

Before Tweek could even finish his thoughts, Craig wrapped his fingers around his dick and started pumping quickly. "I'm close, too," he replied. "Come with me, Tweek. Come for me." 

He didn't even need Craig's hand. Those words were all he needed. " _Fuck, Craig, I fucking love you_ ," Tweek shouted as his orgasm hit him like a truck. His hands were gripping Craig's shoulders tightly as he rode out the shocking pleasure. That seemed to trigger Craig into his own orgasm, the boy letting out a choking moan before slamming his hips into Tweek one more time before his body going limp on top of him. 

As their panting breaths slowed and their heart rates went back down to normal, Craig shifted slightly so he could look at the other boy. "Tweek?" he started. "Did you say you loved me?" 

Tweek's eyes went wide at the realization that yes, he did say that he loved Craig right as he was orgasming. His cheeks burned bright in embarrassment before groaning. "Oh god, I can't believe I told you that I loved you for the very first time as we were having _sex_. Jesus, how romantic, Tweek." 

Craig chuckled and pushed Tweek's sweaty bangs from his forehead. "I'm not going to lie, it was actually pretty hot." 

Tweek groaned even louder and hid his face behind his arm. "Craig, this isn't funny!" 

"Oh, come on! It kind of is," the boy replied with a slight chuckle. Craig removed Tweek's arm from his face and looked the boy in his eyes. "You're such a dork, Tweek Tweak. That's just part of the reason why I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that. Thank you to those who put up with me taking so long to update this fic. I promise that this story will continue without anymore two year gaps. literally went out and bought a notebook and have the next six chapters completely outlined in detail. The love and support from people in the comments throughout those two years kept reminding me why I needed to finish this fic. I have no idea why this chapter was such a burden to get through but I don't think it will be a problem going forward. Bless you all for taking the time to read this mess and hopefully I'll see you at the next one.
> 
> (Also, sorry for the lack of Kenny in this chapter. The next one will be from his POV)
> 
> Comments and kudos would mean a lot.


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